“So I’m being racist against myself?"
Suella Braverman faced criticism after a BBC Question Time debate over what it means to be English descended into a row about race and identity.
The Reform UK MP was accused of suggesting that non-white people cannot be English during the programme.
Braverman, who defected to Nigel Farage’s party from the Conservatives earlier in 2026, sparked an outcry last month by insisting she was not English, despite being born in the country and living there her entire life.
During the Question Time debate, a black man in the audience challenged Braverman over her comments.
He said: “What you’ve done is basically reinforce the racist argument.
“I’ve been on this planet for 54 years, and the amount of times I’ve been told I’m not English, even though I was born here. If I had a penny for every time I’ve been given that, I’d be a very rich man.”
Braverman replied: “So I’m being racist against myself? That makes a lot of sense, with respect. I’m not going to be racist against myself.”
The former Tory home secretary was then pressed by Question Time presenter Fiona Bruce to explain what she believes makes someone English.
Bruce asked: “If someone’s going to call themselves English, I presume you’ve got an idea in mind as to what they would be?”
Braverman said she was not of “English origin” because her parents and grandparents were born elsewhere.
Bruce then asked: “I get what you’re saying it isn’t, but what is it?”
Suella Braverman replied: “I’m not the one saying that it has to be five generations or four generations.
“I think it becomes pretty obvious when people have got a lineage, an ancestry, a connection to the heritage of this country which dates back a few generations.”
Her comments prompted a further clash with New Statesman journalist Oli Dugmore, who challenged the political implications of her argument.
Dugmore said: “The political function of what she was saying earlier is that you can only be English if you are white and that, and I regret to say it, is a racist point of view.”
Braverman later responded to Dugmore on X, accusing him of putting her and other Reform politicians at risk by describing her views as racist.
She said: “You’ve called me racist this evening- albeit in a contorted way- but in doing so, you’ve lowered the tone of the debate with divisive and inflammatory language.
“And absurdly, you’re suggesting that I’m being racist against myself.”
“It’s because of irresponsible language like yours that we in Reform need security.
“The left can keep smearing us as racist for challenging the cosy consensus on mass migration but we will not be bullied into silence.”
